Fragile State of Washington Ferries

Interesting article on the state ferry system from Crosscuts.com in Seattle: It appears that a ‘task force’ has been appointed to look into ways to rescue / improve the Washington State Ferry Systems. Hopefully their Task Force will do as stellar a job as Whatcom County’s recent ferry task force. If so, I sincerely hope [...]

Celebrating the Lease

The PLIC Board sent out this email today: We are pleased to inform you that by a 5-2 vote following a public hearing last night, County Council approved and will sign the ferry lease agreement, as introduced August 9, for continued service at Gooseberry Point. The lease is for 35 years. Please save the date [...]

KGMI Interview with Barbara Ryan, Task Force Chair

Yesterday, KGMI radio host Joe Teenan, aired a 3-minute Morning Joe segment interview with Barbara Ryan (chairperson) about the Task Force’s work.   Listen here to the interview, where Barbara summarized key findings of the Task Force that were presented yesterday, August 9, 2011, to the County Council (video of the complete presentation). Thanks, Barbara, for [...]

Update on Disclosure Issues & the Ferry Lease

John Stark, writing for the Bellingham Herald’s Politics Blog, requested clarification from county government on language in the ferry agreement that appears to put some level of restriction on what county officials can tell the public.  To read County Council President Sam Crawford’s response, as well as Mr. Stark’s comments, click on the link below:   [...]

The Proposed Ferry Dock Lease Agreement

**KathBerg, Lummi Island Task Force secretary, put out the word on this interesting commentary by John Stark, of the Bellingham Herald Politics blog, regarding the proposed ferry dock lease: From the Politics blog in the Bellingham Herald: County ferry deal with Lummi Nation includes curbs on public statements July 7th, 2011 From Stark On Tuesday, [...]

May 13-14, 2011: Negotiations Updates

May 14, 2011:  Headline story in the Bellingham Herald    Here is an update on the May 13, 2011 negotiations, by way of PLIC: The good news: the ferry will continue to run on its normal schedule indefinitely. The no-news: today’s negotiating session did not produce a lease agreement. The bad news: none, because no news [...]

Gooseberry Pt Negotiations May Be Moving Ahead?

Below you’ll find a Herald article by John Stark that Kathy Berg emailed early this morning.  UPDATE: The Herald article is now online. Here’s the link to the story. The only thing I can add is that yesterday at 2:30 PM, the County Council clerk sent out an amended agenda notice for today’s County Council [...]

Negotiations Close-but Not Close Enough

John Stark posted this update on today’s ferry negotiation session on the Bellingham Herald’s politics blog.  Unfortunately the negotiations were inconclusive.  The next session is scheduled for May 9th. Go to:  http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/politics/lummi-island-ferry-talks-show-some-progress/#ixzz1K6yFma7f On the same subject, PLIC posted the following message: Characterized as, basically, close but no cigar by a blog in The Bellingham Herald [...]

Do you work, go to school or do business in Ferndale?

ALERT I got this email from Stephanie Plumb, reporter at the Ferndale Record, who wants to interview islanders for a story.  Please call or email her ASAP (her deadline is Tuesday, April 12 – tomorrow) if you want to be interviewed. ************ > [Original Message] > From: <reporter@ferndalerecord.com> > To: <wynnelee@earthlink.net> > Date: 4/11/2011 1:01:24 [...]

Deadline Extended, Progress in Ferry Negotiations

Both the Lummi Nation and Whatcom county officials announced that they have made substantial progress in today’s deliberations and that negotiations are continuing.  Lummi Nation has agreed to extend the deadline to complete negotiations to May 15th.  This evening, the Bellingham Herald’s Whatcom County Politics Blog released statements from both parties. Click to read the [...]